Rick Jacobs chaired Howard Dean's 2003 presidential campaign in California. He is currently Chair and Founder of the Courage Campaign, a progressive political organization in California. He is also the Chair and Co-Founder of Brave New Films, the documentary film company. Jacobs was co-executive producer of Iraq for Sale: The War Profiteers.

From 1999-2003, Mr. Jacobs worked with a Forbes 400 family in the Los Angeles area managing investments, asset allocation, philanthropic endeavors and its operating businesses. Prior to that, he served as acting COO of Marvel Enterprises, Inc.

Mr. Jacobs was President and Chief Executive Officer of Newstar, Inc., a Washington, D.C. and Moscow-based merchant banking and investment advisory firm focusing on the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and Central Europe. He founded the firm in May 1991 with Ambassador Howard H. Baker, Jr., the former U.S. Senator and White House Chief of Staff.

Prior to establishing Newstar, Mr. Jacobs served as Assistant to the Chairman of Occidental Petroleum Corporation (Dr. Armand Hammer) from 1983 through 1990. He represented the Chairman in major financings and philanthropic activities.

Before joining Occidental, Mr. Jacobs served as International Director of The 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. Mr. Jacobs was instrumental in securing the participation of the People's Republic of China for the first time in the history of World's Fairs in the United States.

Mr. Jacobs is actively involved in a number of community organizations and serves on several private and public policy Boards. He has traveled to the Former Soviet Union on more than 80 occasions, as well as to over 30 other nations (including China, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Korea, Colombia, Peru and Israel) on various business and citizen diplomacy matters. He serves frequently as a commentator and speaker on national politics, appearing on The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, NPR and at the Milken Institute Global Conference.

A native of Oak Ridge, Tennessee, Mr. Jacobs is a 1980 graduate of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service, where he received the Dean's Citation. He lives in Beverly Hills, California.

Blog Entries by Rick Jacobs

Fidelity for Gay Marriage? Ask Ken Starr and Bill Clinton

Posted February 16, 2009 | 08:27 PM (EST)


California's Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on 5 March on two questions about same-sex marriage:

1. Is Prop. 8, which passed by a slim majority in November, an amendment to the constitution or is it a revision? Our friends at Lambda Legal, ACLU and other...

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VIDEO: Arnold's Christmas Nightmare

17 Comments | Posted December 24, 2008 | 06:00 PM (EST)



Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has finally crossed the line to complete delusion. He succeeds so fully in gaining bootlicking adoration from the national media that he now actually believes that he can solve the...

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Obama Teaches the Gays

Posted November 6, 2008 | 05:05 AM (EST)


I never joined the first two parts of the gay movement, neither around Stonewall nor AIDS. I was too young for Stonewall and too closeted for AIDS. I watched friends and acquaintances organize, fight and often win, friends such as Howard Bragman (now a powerful publicist),

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Mormon Church on Prop 8: We Oppose Civil Rights (But Don't Tell)

Posted November 4, 2008 | 03:43 AM (EST)


Harry Truman famously said, "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen."

President-Prophet Thomas Monson, the leader of the Mormon Church, clearly does not read history. If he did, he'd know that he and his apostles could not stand behind the stone walls and parapets of...

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Do Mormons Deserve Equal Protection Under the Law?

Posted October 20, 2008 | 10:48 PM (EST)


Twenty years ago this autumn, I sat in the last Orthodox synagogue on Venice Beach here in LA, enrapt by Rabbi Daniel Lapin's sermon on the Torah portion for the week. It was Exodus 21, describing the obligatory freeing of slaves in Jubilee year:

"But if the...

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California: Yes on Obama, No on Equal Rights

Posted October 8, 2008 | 03:59 AM (EST)


California is deep, dark blue. Barack Obama will win our state by double digits because we live in a relatively progressive state.

But, for the first time in American or California history, men and women will lose their civil rights.

Sounds like a sick joke, right? Well, I...

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Schwarzenegger and McCain Lead America's Yacht Party

Posted July 25, 2008 | 12:58 AM (EST)



Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, an ardent backer of John McCain's presidential bid, showed us his real vision of a "post-partisan" future, only it looks very much like the Bush/Rove past. California, like the nation, faces...

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Tax-Free Yachts--Brought to you by the Republican Party

Posted May 12, 2008 | 11:58 AM (EST)



The Republican tax cut cult, as Arianna so aptly calls it in her new book, has achieved its zenith in California. Here, if you must have a yacht or private jet, you can have it...

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Why Are There Delegates?

Posted April 2, 2008 | 02:26 AM (EST)


Bill Clinton's big speech at Sunday's California Democratic Party (CDP) convention in San Jose carried one message: "chill out." Let the ten remaining states cast their votes before deciding who the nominee is. Although the message seemed to be directed at the three thousand or so in the hall...

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Handsome Donkeys Tell us How to Vote for President

Posted January 31, 2008 | 10:22 PM (EST)


I wrote earlier this week that the 3 million "Decline-to-State" (DTS) voters -- as independents are called here in California -- can change the outcome of the presidential primary here on Tuesday, just as they have in other states. But, as Jennifer Steinhauer reported in the New York...

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Yes, You Can... Vote for President in California!

Posted January 28, 2008 | 10:57 PM (EST)


"Decline to state" (DTS) voters, as independent voters are clumsily known here in California, are the sought-after jewels of this election season of change. Watch CNN or CNBC read the numerous articles written by political pundits in the Los Angeles Times or the New York Times and the mantra is...

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Why Al Gore is Not President

Posted January 23, 2008 | 05:27 PM (EST)


Al Gore is truth. Think about it. He says what needs to be said without fear, without posturing. He leads.

He succeeds in the worlds of politics, business, and diplomacy. He reads and writes history. He has access to the smartest people on the planet. He has a loving, close-knit...

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Vote Early and Often: California Wins in the Early Primary

Posted January 16, 2008 | 04:41 AM (EST)


Last year at this time, CNN ran a piece about the Courage Campaign's petition drive to move the California presidential primary forward from June to February 5th. Many doubted that our premise would be born out, namely that by having California competitive in the presidential primary, we might...

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Will the Political Establishment Deliver California to Clinton? We Vote this Week

Posted January 6, 2008 | 11:29 PM (EST)


California, the state with the most delegates, Electoral College votes usually plays caboose to the Iowa-New Hampshire electoral locomotive. In an attempt to give the 23 million eligible voters a shot at picking the next president, California moved its primary to February 5, starting the avalanche that created the earliest...

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Democracy Won; Blackwater Zero

Posted December 12, 2007 | 05:14 AM (EST)


A tiny town in the pristine high wilderness of eastern San Diego County made history tonight with the nation's first-ever up or down vote on Blackwater, the infamous, private mercenary army. The people spoke and the answer was clear: no to Blackwater. And a resounding yes to democracy. Would that...

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CBS News Catches Republicans in Dirty Trick

Posted December 4, 2007 | 12:37 AM (EST)


CBS Weekend News broadcast a solid view of desperate Republicans who know that they cannot win the 2008 presidential election unless they resort to dirty tricks. As I have written here since August, Republican operatives, many with ties to Rudolph Giuliani, have been attempting to place on the...

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Feinstein Censure Killed Without a Vote

Posted November 19, 2007 | 04:45 AM (EST)


The California Democratic Party killed without a vote the resolution to censure Senator Feinstein Saturday night in a crowded committee room, just a stone's throw from Disneyland. The destiny of the censure resolution was clear from the outset. Because the resolution had been submitted within 10 days of the...

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Ann Coulter: On the Gay Circuit in West Hollywood

Posted October 28, 2007 | 06:42 PM (EST)


We had dinner last night at Murano, a new West Hollywood restaurant, owned by gay circuit party promoter Jeffrey Sanker, and lesbian night club owners Robin Gans and Sandy Sachs. It's a visually stunning space, straight lines, whites and reds accented by brilliant Murano glass chandeliers (hence...

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Blackwater to California: Hire us to Put Out Your Fires

Posted October 25, 2007 | 07:27 PM (EST)


We couldn't make this stuff up. Brian Bonfiglio, vice president of Blackwater West, "I see a tactical operation center for East County fires," said Bonfiglio, noting that Blackwater's proposal includes water tanks capable of holding 35,000 gallons. "Can you imagine how much of a benefit it would be if we...

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Karl Rove in Oslo; Demands Recount

Posted October 12, 2007 | 09:31 AM (EST)


Okay, he's not really there, but would it surprise you? Nearly seven years to the day after the Bush/Rove machine stole the Florida election from Al Gore and Al Gore from America, the truth wins. The most prestigious global prize has been handed to the former vice president, not for...

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